Volume 1 Chapter 9: Every Strike Is Lethal
Tn: Edited at 5 / 15 /2025
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The moment he sensed the two of them so close by, Wu You couldn't help but frown in confusion.
Hadn't it already been seven days since he planted the parasite gu in them?
By now, the hidden gu should've been gnawing away at their senses without pause.
For ordinary cultivators still stuck in the Qi Refining Realm, having their minds chewed on for seven days straight…
They'd be nothing more than raving lunatics.
At that point, they wouldn't even remember their own names.
Yet here they were—those same two people—wandering straight into the forest he currently occupied.
How odd.
Still, he didn't dwell on it for too long. They were just two minor Qi Refining cultivators, after all.
Unlike that other girl from earlier, they didn't seem to have any Immortal Emperor bloodlines coursing through their veins.
Even with half of his cultivation sealed, capturing the two for a blood ritual to heal himself wouldn't be any trouble at all.
"Heh…"
Wu You let out a low chuckle as he pushed himself to his feet, bracing against his knee.
With a flick of his sleeve, his flying sword shimmered into view once more, and he soared off toward the location his spiritual sense had detected.
But when he arrived, only the boy from before was there, sitting cross-legged beneath the trees, quietly circulating his spiritual energy.
Strange.
He could clearly sense both parasite gu in this area, so where was the other one?
That girl at peak Qi Refining Realm… she was gone.
Ye Anping exhaled softly and drew in the wandering spiritual energy, guiding it back into his dantian before opening his eyes.
As he looked up at the man descending from the sky, he offered a warm, surprised smile.
"Hm? If it isn't the esteemed senior from before! What a coincidence, meeting again like this."
Wu You narrowed his eyes.
Something about the boy felt off.
There was no pallor, no signs of spiritual erosion—his complexion was healthy, his aura stable.
How could he still be acting so normal after being infected with his hidden gu?
Before Wu You could piece the puzzle together, Ye Anping gave him a relaxed smile.
He reached into his storage bag and casually tossed a small cauldron through the air.
"Senior Wu You, these two little bugs—thought I'd return them to you."
"What—?!"
The moment he heard his name, Wu You's pupils shrank.
Something was wrong.
But before he could act, he caught the cauldron midair and summoned his own gu cauldron from his bag, preparing for a confrontation.
"Young man," he said coldly, "I don't know what trick you're playing at, but you really think a mere third layer Qi Refining brat like you can stand against—"
"No, probably not," Ye Anping interrupted, his tone still calm. "But I've been preparing for this day… for ten years."
"...Ten years?"
Wu You froze.
What did he mean by ten years?
Then—
A killing intent colder than winter itself erupted from behind.
Wu You's instincts screamed. He spun around just in time to see—
Pei Lengxue, sword in hand, already inches away.
She'd been waiting in the shadows all along.
Wu You desperately gathered the remnants of his true essence to drive her back.
But she was too fast.
Far faster than any Qi Refining realm cultivator had any right to be.
Her sword flashed—icy blue light trailing behind—and smashed directly into the gu cauldron in his left hand.
CLANG!
Sparks flew.
The force of the strike knocked the cauldron from his grip, sending it tumbling through the air.
One of the fleshy gu insects inside—a grotesque creature with centipede legs and a scorpion tail—was flung out.
Pei Lengxue didn't let up. She swung her sword again, and the gust of spiritual wind that followed shredded the creature to pieces midair.
Wu You staggered backward, eyes wide in disbelief.
"This technique… the way you wield spiritual energy…"
His voice trembled as realization dawned.
"You—are you a cultivator from the Frigid Heaven Kingdom?!"
"…"
Pei Lengxue didn't answer.
Instead, she swept her sword in a wide arc, sending the fallen leaves on the ground into a swirl around her.
At a glance, they looked like nothing more than harmless leaves dancing in the wind.
But in the next instant, every single one of them froze—floating in midair—hovering around her like a storm waiting to be unleashed.
Wu You's instincts screamed again, but it was too late.
The leaves shot forward like razors.
SWISH—
Wu You leapt back with lightning speed.
But even then—one leaf grazed his cheek.
A thin line of blood bloomed.
A single leaf.
Just one fluttering leaf—and it carved a long, bleeding gash across Wu You's otherwise flawless cheek.
He touched his face, fingers coming away slick with blood, and turned back in disbelief to look at the swirling leaves still hovering around Pei Lengxue—controlled entirely by her spiritual energy.
No000 it couldn't be.
He squinted, mind racing.
If his eyes weren't deceiving him, that move just now… was from the Shadowleaf Sword Art—a secret art of the Shadowmoon Sword Sect.
That was one of their most closely guarded sword techniques.
Even demonic cultivators had spent centuries trying to pry it from their hands, with no success.
So how… how did this little girl know it?
And not just that—her spiritual circulation just now… was that the Frigid Heaven Kingdom's internal cultivation technique?
Who the hell taught her all this!?
Wu You grit his teeth and danced backward, narrowly dodging another flurry of blade-sharp leaves.
He tried to channel his spiritual energy to shield his body—but Pei Lengxue refused to give him a single breath of time.
Worse, he was still wounded from the earlier clash with the golden dragon.
In less than ten seconds, his robe was riddled with tears and cuts from the flying leaves.
"Tch...! Being pushed this far… by a mere Qi Refining girl?!"
Wu You clicked his tongue in frustration.
He could no longer afford to hold back.
With a snap decision—he activated his true essence.
The moment she sensed that, Pei Lengxue's expression shifted.
She retracted her sword and leapt back, her posture tense—ready to flee at any moment.
"You think you can run?" Wu You snarled. "You forced me to burn my true essence! Do you really think I'd let you go now?!"
A violent roar erupted from his throat.
From his body surged a tide of corrupted energy, congealing into a massive clawed hand, which lashed out, tearing through the air as it chased after her.
"Haahh!!"
But just as the giant spectral hand was about to close in—
A pale blue light burst forth from the ground beneath Wu You's feet.
In a flash, a radiant barrier of icy light formed, encasing the entire area within a hundred-foot radius.
"A formation?!" Wu You spun in place, scanning the glowing sigils etched into the earth.
His eyes widened in shock.
"Hah— what can a mere Qi Refining realm cultivator's formation possibly do?!"
He didn't wait—redirecting the ghostly hand, he aimed it at the barrier's upper center, intending to smash through and resume the pursuit.
But just as the ghost hand was about to collide with the barrier—
FWOOSH—!
A beam of cold, shimmering light pierced straight through the hand, freezing it solid in an instant.
Chunks of corrupted energy dropped like ice sculptures to the frost-covered ground.
The entire forest went silent.
The temperature plummeted.
Leaves, soil, and roots were instantly blanketed in a thin layer of frost and snow.
Breath became mist. The air stung with cold.
Wu You froze—his entire body tensed.
He didn't understand.
A formation that manipulated cold to this degree…
The Frigid Heaven Kingdom's cultivation technique…
The Shadowleaf Sword Art of the Shadowmoon Sword Sect…
And now, a mysterious cold-type formation he'd never seen before.
Each one struck perfectly at his weakest points.
Ten years…
Suddenly, he realized what that boy meant when he said he had "prepared for ten years."
Ten years… all to kill him?
But that made no sense.
Why?
He'd never even seen that boy before today!
"Tch…" Wu You clenched his jaw and took a deep breath, suppressing the fury in his heart.
—No. It wasn't over yet.
Yes, the formation was precise. And yes, it hurt.
But at most, it would trap him here for a while.
A formation laid by a Qi Refining realm brat couldn't possibly last long.
At best, a few minutes.
The boy would burn through his true essence and collapse.
Wu You sneered, voice echoing through the forest.
"I want to see what other little tricks you two rabbits have left!"
But the words had barely left his lips when—
SHING!
A flash of cold steel.
From out of nowhere, a sword shimmered into view.
A three-foot blade, elegant and razor-sharp—its edge already at his throat.
Wu You's expression twisted. He raised his hand and caught the blade—barehanded.
But the moment he gripped the edge, it sliced through his skin.
Blood spilled down the sword like a ribbon, dripping onto the frostbitten earth below.
He looked up at the girl pressing forward with her blade—Pei Lengxue.
And then, Wu You laughed.
"The boy really is ruthless, isn't he? He even locked you, his junior sister, inside this freezing formation."
His eyes glittered with cold amusement.
"Isn't he afraid this frost will freeze you to death first?"
Pei Lengxue tried to pull her sword free, but Wu You's grip was like iron. Unable to budge it, she simply released the hilt and switched to fists and kicks, launching a flurry of blows at him.
Her first and second strikes caught him off guard, forcing him to dodge—but by the third, he had regained control and caught her wrist.
"Heh, I must admit," Wu You said with a cruel grin, "you've done well. To make me suffer this much while you're still in Qi Refining…"
He yanked her forward, wrenching her close until their faces were inches apart.
"But that's the end of it."
He opened his mouth—and exhaled a puff of purple mist directly into her face.
Pei Lengxue instinctively held her breath, but it was too late.
The mist crept into her lungs. She squirmed once, twice—and then her limbs went limp.
Wu You released her arms and turned his gaze toward the outside of the formation.
"Little Daoist," he called out mockingly, "your junior sister is under my Bewitching Gu spell now. If you still care about her at all… take this damn formation down."
"…"
"I'll count to three," he continued, a venomous gleam in his eye. "If you don't dispel this formation… once your true essence runs dry, I'll show you exactly what it feels like to have a Spirit Devouring Gu gnawing at your soul—"
SHHK!
Wu You froze.
From behind him, a spirit sword suddenly pierced clean through his chest.
"Ghk—!"
He staggered, eyes wide with disbelief, as he looked down at the blade jutting out from his chest. Slowly, he turned his head to look behind him.
Pei Lengxue stood there—her gaze cold and merciless.
"…How…?"
He couldn't finish the question.
Pei Lengxue answered, expression still like ice:
"My senior brother taught me."
Without hesitation, she ripped the sword out—then drove it through him again.
SHHK!
Once.
Twice.
Three times…
The sword rose and fell, over and over.
By the fourth strike, Wu You couldn't even keep his balance.
With a crash, he collapsed to the ground.
But even as his body failed him, his eyes remained wide, glaring up at Pei Lengxue with hatred and disbelief.
Pei Lengxue exhaled softly and finally withdrew her sword.
Then, with the most cheerful smile she'd worn all day, she turned toward the formation's edge and shouted:
"Senior Brother! It's done!!"
—But the formation didn't disappear.
Outside the barrier, Ye Anping was still channeling his spiritual energy to maintain it. When he heard her voice, he paused for a second—then shouted back urgently:
"FINISH HIM OFF!"
Pei Lengxue blinked.
"Oh right!"
She had forgotten the finishing blow!
Quickly, she rummaged through her storage bag—and pulled out the stack of fifty Fire Element Talismans that Ye Anping had given her earlier that morning.
Wu You, lying in a pool of blood, had been faking his death.
His nascent soul was preparing to detach—waiting for the exact moment her guard dropped so he could seize her body.
But when he saw her suddenly holding a stack of Fire Element Talisman…
His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
"N-No—wait!!"
He lifted a trembling hand, trying to stop her.
But Pei Lengxue showed no mercy.
Without a shred of hesitation, she hurled the entire stack of Fire Element Talisman right onto him.
WHOOM!!
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!—"
Agonized screams echoed through the woods, mixing with the sizzling crackle of burning flesh.
And in the midst of it all, the distinct scent of roasted meat slowly spread through the frozen forest.